I'm Not a Star.....But Some Things Are More Important, Like Memorable Vacations

It's Sunday and the day before heading back to work after 10 days off.

Sigh.

Vacation is over. There are so many things that I want to say about this past week. The first isn't even about vacation. In fact, it is about this blog. Just before vacation I was interviewed over the phone by a local newspaper. Kind of a high profile newspaper out here in Detroit. The topic was this blog. It was cool to be recognized and asked to talk about something that is really important to me. Very cool. I posted on Facebook about it. It was so exciting! I told my Grandma, my mom, my aunt....then the article came out over Easter weekend. And you know what, they cut me. At first I was disappointed. My feelings were just a little bit hurt. But then, a thought hit me. What the hell do I care if some newspaper thinks I am interesting enough to be included in their "mommy blogger" article? Is that why I'm doing this? No. Absolutely not. And perhaps that is why I just wasn't exciting enough to include in the article. I like having readers but I honestly don't care all that much how much traffic I get. I do this for me. No other reason. I like the connections I've made with people all over the world. I wouldn't trade it for the world. But ultimately I do this because I need an outlet. The reporter asked me about what kind of traffic I get on my site. I told her I really don't pay much attention. She asked me if I get involved in "mommy blogger" in-fighting. I told her that I thought it was all kind of silly. Truly I'm just a working mom that has all kinds of faults, all kinds of funny experiences with my sweet little boy, all kinds of little insignificant and silly things to talk about. But they all mean something to me.

So, I don't give a crap if you put me in your stupid article. Ok, maybe a little. Still, I will keep doing this because I like it. So there.

On to bigger and better things....our vacation. We headed down south to Tennessee the day before Easter to visit family. I don't know what I was expecting but I certainly did not expect this. We had a blast. It was a picture perfect vacation. I suppose that I had concerns because my mom lives there and we'd be spending time with her and my step-dad. Honestly, she didn't bother me too much. And she kept her distance for the most part, though she did spend time with us. The best part was connecting with my Aunt A. Aunt A. lived in New Jersey for most of my life and I never really saw her, never spent time with her at all. We spent our entire vacation at her home in Tennessee. She moved there when she retired.

What an interesting woman. Where do I begin? First, she made us feel welcome. One of the first things she told me was not to worry about Bam-Bam playing with anything in her house. She said, "our children are the most important thing, if he breaks something it's not the end of the world." Wait...is this woman actually related to my "children should be seen and not heard" mother? We were right at home at her house. She put me in charge of making iced tea and plugging in her coffee pot in the morning while she went on a walk with the dogs and my husband. She has a blind Basset Hound that she walks first in the morning. Then she goes across the street to get my Grandma's dog. Since we came and brought our dog with us she would make my husband go with her for the second walk....not much of a stretch since he enjoyed those walks with her down those twisty, windy Tennessee roads.

I know it sounds pretty silly to be so enthralled with this lady. To some it wouldn't be so different. But she gave me something that I never had. She made me wear a sweater when it was cold. She gave us home cooked meals. We hadn't had a home cooked meal in two years. She made me eggs just the way I liked them. She gave my husband medicine when he came down with a cold. She kept pulling things out of her cupboards and packing them for us to eat on our way home. She gave me two beautiful new coffee mugs that she had bought for herself but decided would be perfect for me.

She mothered me. In all of my life I have never, ever been mothered like that. And my husband, who lost his mother almost 3 years ago to cancer, needed a little mothering too. It was just exactly what the doctor ordered.

So the trip was great. We actually enjoyed the visits with my mom and step-dad. We hung out with my Uncle B. and Aunt C. My dog became BFF's with my grandma's dog. It was so cute. I caught up with my Grandma and recorded some great footage of her talking about the past.

But I will mostly cherish my time with Aunt A. She helped heal a little spot in my heart.